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James Litinsky of MP Materials, donning his new hat, and Mike Berry, president of Hillwood and chair of the FWEDP.
Since its inception 2½ years ago, along with a change in practice and philosophy, the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership has rolled out an offense better than most professional football teams.
Certainly, the data are stronger than anything the Titans can put together. They play in Nashville, right?
Stakeholders gathered on Wednesday at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art — named for, ahem, The Unexpected City’s original economic development nonprofit — for the annual update on the progress of strengthening and diversifying the city’s economy.
Fort Worth, we’re winning. The FWEDP is working. The data and U-Haul receipts all align.
Since the EDP’s creation — formed out of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce — the city has attracted almost $10 billion in capital investment and 11,000 new jobs.
“Nearly $10 billion flowing into our community, into our economy, building new facilities and laying the foundation for decades of prosperity,” FWEDP CEO Robert Allen said. “This is a positive change that will impact our economy for the better for decades to come.”
The progress signals, Allen said, that Fort Worth is firmly on the map for companies worldwide, thanks to its prime location, talented and growing workforce, and business-friendly climate.
Siemens choosing south Fort Worth for a $190 million tech-manufacturing hub, Bell investing $630 million to build a facility for the MV-75, and Wistron wiring $761 million and hundreds of new jobs to the area are indicative of the momentum.
And as it concerns peer cities, Fort Worth is leading.
Over the same two-year time period, Nashville, home to the Titans, has attracted $5.6 billion in capital investment and almost 10,000 jobs. Jacksonville, on the other hand, has attracted only $3.6 billion and almost 7,000 jobs.
More victories, Allen said, are on the horizon. More likely, imminent. Yet, there’s a lot of game left to play.
Allen laid out an ambitious game plan that would make Amon Carter proud, no doubt. The EDP, he said, has a list of 500 companies that might at some point be ready for a “Why Fort Worth” pitch. Those companies, of course, are those in the city's and region's wheelhouse, including advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense, mobility and logistics, corporate and financial services, energy, life sciences and biotech, and — a more recent development —film and production.
“We're going to be proactive, we're going to be strategic, and we're going to be relentless in making Fort Worth's business case,” said Allen, with the same grit and conviction Mick once used to push Rocky Balboa through his trials.
James Litinsky, chairman and CEO of MP Materials — the cornerstone of America’s resurgent rare earth supply chain and another company that has moved operations to Fort Worth to build magnets — had a wry suggestion on how to keep the momentum churning.
“Let New York have their mayoral election,” Litinsky said of the city that never sleeps potentially going dark as the least business-friendly city in America. “Just wait a week or two.”
Everybody there had the same thought about that kind of unforced error.
Litinsky, an E.F. Hutton–type guy — when he talks, people pay attention — said MP Minerals’ presence here will spark a trickle-down effect, drawing other supply-chain partners nearer.
“This is a great place to do business. It really is,” said Litinsky, presented with a cowboy hat by FWEDP Chair Mike Berry — an homage to Amon Carter’s tradition of gifting visiting VIPs a Shady Oak Borsalino. “And that has been our experience every step of the way. It’s very clear when you look around at all the competitive areas — and there are a lot of great ones — but it’s obvious Texas wants to do business. You can’t say that about certain other states.”
Onward, Cowtown.